Prompt: In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
Observations:
Mrs. Cykert's chemistry class generally has very few disruptions, at least during the times I have been observing. Occasionally a student may be off task during group work, at which time Mrs. Cykert usually walks over to the group and reminds them of the task at hand, or casually tries to catch the student's eye, and sometimes she will just say the student's name and that is enough to get them back on task. There has been one occasion where students were supposed to be working on a task but three or four students from two groups were being generally disruptive together and not attending to the task at hand, at which point Mrs. Cykert instructed the one group to move to another part of the classroom. They were sitting all together as though it were one big group and not getting any work done, but once she required them to physically separate into two groups the disruptions stopped. Generally Mrs. Cykert ignores disruptions from outside the class as they are usually the result of other teachers or students coming into her room to get supplies that are needed for another class. She continues on with the discussion or lecture that she was doing and lets them go about their business. On the occasion that she needs to address someone from outside the room to answer a question, she generally stops the class, answers the question at hand, then brings the class back on task by restating the last thing she said before the disruption.
From speaking with Mrs. Cykert, I know that she initially had her students seated alphabetically in the class but after realizing some students were more likely to be disruptive when sat together she made a few seating changes to separate these students. She also separated a set of identical twins that she has in her class in order to minimize disruption from the two of them conversing together, and to help keep their identities straight. For the most part the disruptions that Mrs. Cykert has to deal with are from students who are challenging due to the nature of the content of the day, they find it difficult or boring, and so her reaction to them is to listen to them say their piece and then try to explain something in a different manner or relate it to something they may care about. Sometimes those approaches do not work and so she is left with telling them that it is a requirement for them to learn either for testing, standards, or to better understand a future topic. For the most part, however, her students seem to do a fairly good job of respecting the classroom environment and Mrs. Cykert and their fellow students when they are speaking.
Reflections:
I hope to have a classroom environment very similar to Mrs. Cykert's. She seems to have very few true disruptions from the students, and seems to have fostered an environment of mutual respect that is open to inquisition and questions from students. I intend to spend the first few days of each year going over my expectations for my students as well as their expectations of me and of the class, making sure that we are all on the same page about how the class functions and what is and is not acceptable behavior. I think establishing these expectations from both sides early on, as well as enforcing them as issues arise will be the most effective way to have a smooth classroom where the students have respect for the subject and one another's learning environment so that true problems are minimal.
Class Topic: Chemistry Grade: 10, 11, 12 Observed by: Sarah Evans
Observations:
Mrs. Cykert's chemistry class generally has very few disruptions, at least during the times I have been observing. Occasionally a student may be off task during group work, at which time Mrs. Cykert usually walks over to the group and reminds them of the task at hand, or casually tries to catch the student's eye, and sometimes she will just say the student's name and that is enough to get them back on task. There has been one occasion where students were supposed to be working on a task but three or four students from two groups were being generally disruptive together and not attending to the task at hand, at which point Mrs. Cykert instructed the one group to move to another part of the classroom. They were sitting all together as though it were one big group and not getting any work done, but once she required them to physically separate into two groups the disruptions stopped. Generally Mrs. Cykert ignores disruptions from outside the class as they are usually the result of other teachers or students coming into her room to get supplies that are needed for another class. She continues on with the discussion or lecture that she was doing and lets them go about their business. On the occasion that she needs to address someone from outside the room to answer a question, she generally stops the class, answers the question at hand, then brings the class back on task by restating the last thing she said before the disruption.From speaking with Mrs. Cykert, I know that she initially had her students seated alphabetically in the class but after realizing some students were more likely to be disruptive when sat together she made a few seating changes to separate these students. She also separated a set of identical twins that she has in her class in order to minimize disruption from the two of them conversing together, and to help keep their identities straight. For the most part the disruptions that Mrs. Cykert has to deal with are from students who are challenging due to the nature of the content of the day, they find it difficult or boring, and so her reaction to them is to listen to them say their piece and then try to explain something in a different manner or relate it to something they may care about. Sometimes those approaches do not work and so she is left with telling them that it is a requirement for them to learn either for testing, standards, or to better understand a future topic. For the most part, however, her students seem to do a fairly good job of respecting the classroom environment and Mrs. Cykert and their fellow students when they are speaking.
Reflections:
I hope to have a classroom environment very similar to Mrs. Cykert's. She seems to have very few true disruptions from the students, and seems to have fostered an environment of mutual respect that is open to inquisition and questions from students. I intend to spend the first few days of each year going over my expectations for my students as well as their expectations of me and of the class, making sure that we are all on the same page about how the class functions and what is and is not acceptable behavior. I think establishing these expectations from both sides early on, as well as enforcing them as issues arise will be the most effective way to have a smooth classroom where the students have respect for the subject and one another's learning environment so that true problems are minimal.Class Topic: Chemistry
Grade: 10, 11, 12
Observed by: Sarah Evans